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om guru bRH`myE nmH...
vEDik BACKGROUNDER OF
vivaaH
On
this planet earth and in the universe we humans know about, among humans the entire process of creating the male-female union
to live together is primarily meant for:
-
upholding the eternal cylce of creation,
-
providing sustenance of all that is created and
-
keeping continuity of the cyclic re-creation of all that has been created and will be
created .
The process of making and sustaining this union in a society is extensively
detailed in the texts of vED = SCIENCES OF CREATION AND LIFE....
In
veD and
veDik lifestyle, the process by which a male-female union is
made, sanctified and lived with acceptance among veDik
communal societies is
called vivaaH.
In
the vivaaH process of this union of a
male human and a female human, a "bride" is the female human participant in
the vivaaH and a "bridegroom" is the
male human participant in vivaaH.
After the vivaaH
ceremony is performed the bride becomes wife and bridegroom
becomes husband in a vivaaH.
This pair of wife and husband set up their own household as per the rules and
regulations prescribed in vED and therefore they are called householders or
gRUHs`TH. The wife is called
gRUHiANii meaning the mistress of a
household and the husband is called gRUHiAn
meaning the master of a household. And the
aaSHRm (life stage) they live in is called
gRUHsth-aaSHRm
In
cultures and civilizations which does not practice veDik lifestyle,
the male-female human union is made, sanctified and lived with acceptance as per
the customs, traditions and belief system of the particular culutre.
In English language, which is the most common
means of communications between various cultures and civilization in the 21
century, vivaaH
is called MARRIAGE....The detailed
explanation of the word vivaaH and
marriage is in the separate article
"WHAT IS vivaaH = MARRIAGE?" on the
vED page under the same sub-category of
sNskaar as this article on this
knowledge-sharing PVAF web site.
As per vEDik texts, in vEDik
lifestyle, the following 8 forms or
types of vivaaH are described:
- bRH`maa vivaaH
- aaARsh vivaaH
- pRaajaapt`y vivaaH
- DEEv vivaaH
- gaaNDHARv
vivaaH
- aasur vivaaH
- raaaKSHs
vivaaH
- pEEshaach vivaaH
Only in 2 forms of vivaaH as noted
above there is exchange of any compensation of wealth for either of the bride or
bridegroom.
In vED texts, of the 8 forms of
vivaaH,
bRH`maa vivaaH is the most DHARmik
meaning most sacred as it follows the rules and regulations of
DHARm. It is thus the most moral and
ethical union as the union is based on total free will
including the consents of both sets of parents and following the rules of
arranging and performing vivaaH in conformance to
DHARm-shaas`TR and vED.
As per veD texts,
paeeshaach vivaaH is regarded
as the most aDHaaARmik (unlawful and
morally wrong) type of vivaaH.
All of these types of vivaaH are said
to occur among humanity in all times in all places as per
veD knowledge.
The above 8 forms of vivaaH
is also conformed to by the
spt-rushio (seven mind-born sons of
pRjaapti bRH`maa who created the rest of the creations
along with pRjaapti bRH`maa to
all the 33 kror (330 million)
DEvtaao (gods and goddesses) and
all creations who are not in the categories of animals, plants and other
sub-living beings.
The prime difference in case of
vivaaH among rushio
and DEvtaao is that the familial
lineage limitations imposed for humans is not waived by
DHARm. The familial limitations
in humans is that vivaaH between
a man and a woman is not allowed between the children of blood relations
extending to 7 generations in the familial lineage of bride or bridegroom's
father and 5 generations lineage of bride or bridegroom's mother.
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